Hello all! I'm sorry I've become one of those major slackers... it's taken alittle bit to get used to M3 year. I don't think I'm still really used to it, but it's going along as well as can be expected I suppose. I think a lot of it is just starting on a big rotation (surgery) when you know absolutely nothing, so it's 6wks of being very un-guided and sorta lost and sorta trying to figure things out. Anyway, let's start back at the beginning...
So I took boards June 15th. It was a helluva a long day. I truthfully don't even remember much - it just is block after block of questions and it's funny because when you leave at the end of like 8hrs of answering test questions you really can only remember a handful of the 300+ questions you answered that day. Leaving the test I definitely felt that it was easier than I'd expected. Not easier like it was easy, but easier as in more straight-forward. I also felt very, very average. It just felt like the questions I didn't know the answer to were things I would never ever have known or things that I knew I should know or had known but just couldn't remember. And the questions I felt I really knew the answer to all felt like questions that anyone who made it through 2 years of med school (or had never even gone to med school) could have answered. So walking out i just felt like there was no way I could have done better than anyone else would have done on the test. After it was done I celebrated with a handful of other friends who had also taken it that day or the day before - we BBQ'd and went downtown... it was a really good way to relax and celebrate having finished! The next few days after boards are kind of a blur... then we had Brendan's TY graduation in Des Moines that weekend. He moved back to IC after that, then I had a week of clinical beginnings which was part useful part painful, then on June 28th M3 year began!
Tomorrow marks the start of my 5th week of my surgery rotation. It is a 6wk rotation, so that means I have 2 weeks left. It has been good and bad... it took a bit to get used to getting up at 4 or 5am and being on your feet all day and all that jazz... I still don't think I'm really used to it all yet. The first 3wks I was on the burn unit, which was neat just because there are only 40 burn units in the country, so it was an experience very few physicians ever get. I do feel very educated on burns and sking grafting. It was also cool because the attending I had let us do a lot during the OR procedures, which was a neat experience as a brand new M3. By the end of 3 wks I was ready to move on, though, because there is not a great deal of variety in burn surgery.
Last week was my first week at the VA hospital. It was a pretty slow week as some of the staff is on vacation, but it was a nice change of hours from burns! I actually got done by 4:30 a couple of days, so that was really nice!! It's much more 'bread and butter' type surgery stuff there, which will be a nice change from the highly specialized burn unit!!
We also participate in 3 trauma calls over the 6wk rotation. Two are 12hr night calls from 6pm-6am on a weeknight. And then we do one 24hr call day from 6am-6am on a Saturday or Sunday. So I did my 24hr one last Sunday and then started at the VA when call was over Monday morning. It's alittle worthless sicne we are med students and therefore of no use to anyone, but it's good to be exposed to trauma call and see what it's like for the residents and also to see what it's like to be at the hospital for 24hrs and get woken up at odd hours and be up most of the night, etc. I had a pretty good experience with a good number of traumas while I was on call, which is kinda nice if you have to be there anyway.
Ok, this is getting long, so I'll stop. Plus i have a TON of cleaning to do around my apartment... we are attempting to eradicate the fruit flies who have taken up residence. I hate those things more than anything!! But before I go - wedding plans! So not much has been done in terms of planning because I've just been busy getting settled into school, but we do know it will be Saturday, July 16, 2011 and the reception will be at the Downtown Des Moines Marriott. That's literally all that's been accomplished.
Alright, off to clean! Hope you are all enjoying your summer!!
Love, Andrea
PS - I did get my board score back last week. Despite my feelings of mediocrity, I did manage to score better than average. I'm REALLY REALLY happy with how well it went, so at least I feel there was a pay-off for ignoring everyone and everything my life for that month!!
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